Review: Chrono Trigger for Nintendo DS

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Oh, Magus, how I've missed you.... new villains just aren't the same

Getting the new Chrono Trigger release for Nintendo DS in the mail was like getting a large chunk of “happy place” from my past delivered in a box. For those that never played the seminal SNES version of the game released in 1995, or the PS1 port that arrived a few years later, there are a few reasons why this title is consistently named on a short list as one of the greatest role playing and/or console games of all time.

The time-skipping story is interesting and original, full of emotional and narrative threads that weave in and out, disappear, and are picked up again as well as having branching paths depending on choices made. Pixel-based characters bleed charisma through the art design and character development. The flexibility and depth of the story that can be pulled from this game was impressive a decade ago and still is today.

The time-travelling nature of the title, once it unfolds, gives a lot of variety in setting and choice.

Gameplay is just as impressive and polished here as are the rest of the layers of this experience. Overworld exploration is as responsive and blissful to control as the original, although it does feel a slight bit too fast on the new autorun setting (which can be turned off if you agree.) I played using the stylus for movement for about five minutes before abandoning it for the traditional D-pad setup, as the stylus controls were sloppy and frustrating. The stylus does work very well for accessing inventory and options on the bottom screen, and would have been a killer setup had it been more precise on controlling movement, but ditching the stylus completely still gives the player the same classic experience that makes this game so revered.

Chrono Trigger has touches of whimsy but has many dark twists in the story.

It’s really exactly the same game at the core as when it was released in the mid 90s. It’s like opening a box of good memories that have sat undisturbed for a decade and makes for a great moment. I had not played the PS port of the title, and the game stays true to the original, and the port, while adding a couple of new twists. The pixel art still has a very charismatic and detailed design, but certainly shows the limitations of the source material and lacks the resolution and vibrance of current handheld games. It still looks very good though.

At the point of getting redundant (reviewing a remake of an undisputed masterpiece tends to end up redundant on praise) this is the how-to of how classic RPG action should be done, from battle system to story the game is tight and precise beat for beat. Along with those stellar aspects Chrono Trigger features some of the most memorable characters and villains in RPG history, and two of my personal favorite characters in video game history as a whole. The sense of emotional connection this title manages to instill into these characters is astounding and should be experienced by all.

The game does a brilliant job of giving different twists to perspective and mechanics to keep things fresh.

Playing through Chrono Trigger again just hammered home to me how depressing Square’s drought of mediocre storytelling has been since the stellar Final Fantasy X. And while I’m sure it’s not easy to write when the world demands a classic masterpiece from every release; the recent narrative output from the company has been disappointing.

{ad}This experience reminds us of the heights the company is capable of. I still have hope that Final Fantasy XIII can restore this kind of narrative that has made the company such a dominant figure in gaming memory. Regardless, take this moment to enjoy an ultimate representation of the flawless gems Square has in their past library, a game I could easily put on my top ten all-time list. If you have a taste for story, character, and XP-based level grinding, this needs to be the next game you play.